Changes for the 2002 Busch Grand National Series

[Lee]

Heard on RPM2Nite, from sorces inside NASCAR, said to be reliable, the 2002 Busch Grand National schedule will be expanded to 34 races.

The Busch Grand National Series will run a second race at Daytona International Speedway. The race will be in conjunction with the July Winston Cup race.

The Busch race at Watkins Glen will be dropped, infavor of the second Daytona Busch race. There will be no road-courses on the Busch Grand National schedule in 2002.

[gomick]

why doesnt the busch series just run the whole series with winston cup ......its a pity that there arent maybe 3 or 4 road course races in both bgn and wc

[Joe Fan]

No Watkins Glen BGN race next year? NASCAR cancels the Ron Fellows 200? A big :thumbsdown:

[marcus]

I just think that Nascars on a road course is an ugly sight ..they are pure bred oval machines ..allthough it is good to see guys like ron fellows, Boris Said and Tommy kendell get the occasional ride in a Nascar on a road course i think that they should stay on the ovals because they look the best there and obviously go better there as well..and it would probably drop the costs down a bit as well..because they dont need a car built just for a road course..but they would just spend the money on another oval car I guess.

and gomick asks a good question..why doesnt the Busch series just follow Winston cup cars and play a supporting role at every event ????

[Lee]

Well, I guess it's just a matter of prefrence. It doesn't bother me in the least, but then, I don't like road-racing. I saw a survey, taken last week, asking NASCAR fans if they wanted to see more, or less road-racing in NASCAR. The, less road-racing beat the more road-racing response. That tells me that NASCAR is moving in the right direction, as the fans seem to want less road-racing. Of course, that is only one survey, I'm sure you could probally find another that would have the opposite results. I look at it like this, more of the NASCAR drivers dislike road-racing, than like it, which would stand to reason. Most of them grew up on ovals, it isn't that they can't drive, and drive quite well, on road-courses, it's just that they don't like them. From what I've seen, and heard, the same holds true for most NASCAR fans, they prefer ovals. I guess this will always be a point of contention between those of us that dislike road-racing, and those that like it. Sometimes, as they say, the more things change, the more they remain the same.

[marcus]

interesting point Lee...I was raised on road racing and totally love it but yet i prefer to see Nascar on ovals..i remember seeing my first nascar road course race watkins glen only a year or 2 ago and was really looking forward to it but must say found it rather boring ..i guess it was just the lack of overtaking and general action which I get enough of watching Formula One but put them on the ovals and they pass and bump and crash and it is 100% more exciting ..for me anyway

all this from a dedicated road racing openwheeler fan eh ????

[Joe Fan]

Marcus, in some respects I am similar to you. Although I like stock cars on road courses I think they are more suited for oval tracks and thus put on a better show there. However, I like open wheel cars better on road courses than ovals, unless we are talking sprint cars which I think are great on ovals. Most of the CART and IRL races on ovals are boring compared to NASCAR oval races with the exception of the IRL races at Texas and Indy. Of course, any of them are interesting in person, it is just that on TV open wheel races on ovals don't usually do anything for me.

[Lee]

I agree with you Marcus. As to Gomick's question, yes, it is a good one, but I think the reason is that even though the Busch Series does play a supporting role to the Winston Cup Series at times, it has, in the last several years, become a stand alone series, in it's own right. Often times Busch races, run independently from Winston Cup events, outdraw, in both track numbers, and television ratings, other major racing series top events. I think part of the reasoning for the scheduling a Busch Race in July is because the Busch Series has always done extremly well at Daytona, and that there has never been a really strong event to compliment the Winston Cup race at Daytona, in July. Years ago, they ran the Paul Revere 250 for the now defunked NASCAR Grand American series cars (Mustangs, Camaros, Firebirds, etc) the night before the 400, but it was run, at night, on the road-course, then they turned it into a race for the now defunked IMSA sports car series. NASCAR fans, by and large, are not road-racing fans. I think the Grand American cars would have done much better had they been raced on the oval. As to the IMSA race, I'm sorry, but stock car fans and sports car fans are from two entirely different worlds, and neither of them care, a great deal, about the other's product. This is not saying anything bad about the sports cars, or their fans, it is just saying that these two different forms of racing appeal to two entirely different crowds, two entirely different populations of the motorsports world. I think this is a logical move on NASCAR's part, by scheduling the Busch race in July, and frankly, I am amazed that they had not done this years ago! It makes complete sense, the two races appeal to the same crowd, and will attract more fans than the other races ever did. It just makes sense.

[Lee]

JoeFan and Marcus,

It just make sense, certian types of race cars are designed for certian types of tracks, and perform best on those types of tracks, and equally, they will not perform as well on tracks that they were not designed for. Common sense.

Marcus, I'm not at all supprised that you, a dedicated open-wheel/road-racing fan would say this. Why should I be supprised that you would recognize what common sense, e.g. that a car designed for something will be better at that particular thing, than something it is not designed for, dictates! I'd have been quite supprised, and would have questioned your mentality, had you said anything other than what you said.

[Crash Test]

The things that masacre Nascar on the flat tracks is the lack of brakes for the amount of weight they carry, and the small wheel size. Other than that, they would make sensational road racing machines. Heck, they even have very low downforce for their relative speed, something which many of us think wouldn't be out of place in our Touring Cars.

Yep, keep 'em on the ovals. But my question is, why do they race on road tracks? Is it because the ISC own(ed) Watkins Glen?

[marcus]

well im glad i said the right thing lee...we wouldnt want you questioning my mentallity now would we

i guess what you say is totally correct that they are built for ovals and thats why they go the best on them..and i would agree with that ..but thinking about it now ..there is no reason why they shouldnt have a road race ..after all it does add a different element into the equation and it may just bring along some road racing fans who then may become oval fans of nascar ..so i would like to change my thoughts to yes..let them have a road race to spice things up a bit but get em back to the ovals as soon as possible ..if that makes sense